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Absalom and Achitophel

Whate’er he did was done with so much ease,

Whate’er he did was done with so much ease,
In him alone ‘t was natural to please.

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Absalom and Achitophel

A fiery soul, which, working out its way,

A fiery soul, which, working out its way,
Fretted the pygmy-body to decay,
And o’er-inform’d the tenement of clay.
A daring pilot in extremity;
Pleas’d with the danger, when the waves went high
He sought the storms.

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Absalom and Achitophel

Great wits are sure to madness near allied,

Great wits are sure to madness near allied,
And thin partitions do their bounds divide.

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Absalom and Achitophel

And all to leave what with his toil he won

And all to leave what with his toil he won
To that unfeather’d two-legged thing, a son.

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Absalom and Achitophel

Resolv’d to ruin or to rule the state.

Resolv’d to ruin or to rule the state.

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Absalom and Achitophel

And heaven had wanted one immortal song.

And heaven had wanted one immortal song.

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Absalom and Achitophel

But wild Ambition loves to slide, not stand,

But wild Ambition loves to slide, not stand,
And Fortune’s ice prefers to Virtue’s land.

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Absalom and Achitophel

The people’s prayer, the glad diviner’s theme,

The people’s prayer, the glad diviner’s theme,
The young men’s vision, and the old men’s dream!

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Absalom and Achitophel

Who think too little, and who talk too much.

Who think too little, and who talk too much.

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Absalom and Achitophel

A man so various, that he seem’d to be

A man so various, that he seem’d to be
Not one, but all mankind’s epitome;
Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong,
Was everything by starts, and nothing long;
But in the course of one revolving moon
Was chymist, fiddler, statesman, and buffoon.

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Absalom and Achitophel

So over violent, or over civil,

So over violent, or over civil,
That every man with him was God or Devil.

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Absalom and Achitophel

Beware the fury of a patient man.

Beware the fury of a patient man.

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Absalom and Achitophel

For every inch that is not fool is rogue.

For every inch that is not fool is rogue.